Small groups started on Tuesday and it was a wonderful time. Todd began a course called Christianity Explained. I pray this will be a tool we can use as a church in Berea, KY to spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Conviction is not Condemnation
Today at the office it was me, myself, and I holding down the fort. I like to take these opportunities to break free from Pandora and listen to sermons while I work. I may have reached a new level of theological nerdyness (Nowhere near GRIT‘s Ben Wilson though! — and you can tell him I said that.)
A major theme of the sermon I heard today contrasted condemnation with conviction. Condemnation is, as it sounds, far worse than conviction. One is the sweet work of the Holy Spirit meant to transform us to Christ’s likeness, the other is the work of Satan meant to pull us away from the perfect image of our Lord and Savior.
Revelation 12:10 calls Satan the “accuser of the brethren.” It has been described by many that our enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy. It’s an apt summation. Satan’s purpose is the steal our joy in Christ, kill our faith, and destroy our identity. But — Praise God! — Revelation 12:10 continues on and proclaims that the accuser has been thrown down. He has been conquered by the Blood of the Lamb, by Jesus. Romans 8:1 wonderfully reassures “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
At this point, I should insert a disclaimer. If you are not a Christian, this post doesn’t yet apply to you. I pray it will. If you haven’t placed your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, then you won’t be able to understand the Holy Spirit’s sweet work of conviction that I’m about to mention. Grace Community Church warmly welcomes you to contact us, whether through our website or Facebook page, if you have questions about coming to faith in Christ.
What a Summer… So Far
What a summer is has been for Grace Community Church in Berea KY.
It has been quite an eventful summer. I am excited about the progress we are making as a church and the areas in which we have stepped out of what is normally comfortable for us.
The Reason For God has been going great and we have two weeks left. It will be exciting to see how it ends and how future times we host this work out. We have been able to sit as friends and discuss important life matters in an atmosphere of civility and mutual respect. Tough questions have been discussed and controversy and needless arguing have been avoided. Many thanks to all who have made it happen.
Last week Todd and Rachel hosted a neighborhood Bible club (kid’s Bible study) in their own neighborhood. It went so very well even I hated to see it end, as did the kids who were coming. Todd has such a gift for teaching children and has a great knack of making things fun without watering down the content of the Gospel. Many thanks to Todd and Rachel for opening their home and doing this. Christ was exalted over these three days and the Gospel proclaimed faithfully.
With all the happenings so far we are still in the process of launching our weekly small groups which will begin the second week of September. Today we started signing up for our two small groups. One is going to be going through the Gospel project and the other Downline Builder. Both of these are unique opportunities to be able to dig into God’s word together and to learn to be more impressed with Christ which will be evidence by the way we follow Him. I have included a video on the Gospel project below.
With all that is going on we need to keep two things in mind. One, we are doing a lot of good work. This is what we as a church are to be doing. Taking the good news of Jesus Christ to those who need Him (which is everyone). Secondly, let’s keep the momentum going. We have started many good things. Let’s think of other things we could be doing and ways we can improve what we are doing already. Always bearing in mind this is for the glory of the Father, the exaltation of Jesus and a desire to see the Holy Spirit change people through the message of the Gospel.
Ben
GRIT: What Matters
Theological Training from Grace Community Church for churches in Berea, KY
This is one of the latest videos for GRIT. There are many things that matter in the life of the church. But we all know there is some that matter more. How do you find a balance? GRIT wants to help churches and pastors train disciples in what matters most; the Gospel.
GRIT is a tool we can use as a church in Berea, KY to grow the Kingdom of God.
Downline Builder
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTkxZ7wswuI&feature=player_detailpage[/youtube]
This is a little video introduction to what Downline builder. Once you get into this I think you will really like it. The material they have is solid and gospel focused. It is also practical because it does not take a one size fits all approach to discipleship. I have also included in this post a link to a tutorial we put together to show you how to use it. This is something we can use to spread the gospel as a church in Berea, KY.
If you have any questions please feel free to let me know,
Ben
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